Lamp hanger



May 15, 1923.

E. M. LARKINS LAMP HANGER Filed Dec. 30. 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet l E. M. LARKINS May 1 5, 1923.

LAMP HANGER Filed'Deq. 30. 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May-15,1923. A 1,454,855

' E.' M. LARKINS LAMP HANGER Filed Dec.4 30, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Y 52 Az.,

Patented May l5, i923.

nRNEs'r MILTON LARKINs, or soUTII BEND, INDIANA, nssIGNoR To GEORGE CUTTER COMPANY, or SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, A CORPORATION or INDIANA.

LAMP HANGER.

Application filed December 30,- `1920. Seria1 No.-433,998.

T o all whom it may concern Be it known" that I, ERNEST M. LARkINs, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Bend, in the county of St.- Joseph and State of Indiana, have invented a cer-v' tain new and useful Improvement in Lamp Hangers, of which the following is a specication. n

My invention relates to lamp hangers and is articularly useful in connection with devices sometimes known as automatic cutout. sockets. In this class of devices .the lamp is supportedin aV vertically movable socket and the vertical movement of the socket is effected by means'of a cord or chain passing thru over a` pulley mounted iny a stationary supporting member. When the operator pulls down on the cord, the socket and lamp are raised and the lamp terminals are put into electrical engagement. yAt the same time the socket and its Supportbecome inter-engaged `so that the operator may release the cord or chain and leave the lamp lighted. Another pull on the cord causes the socket to be released, after which it and the lamp maybeJ lowered by paying out on the cord or chain. The object of my present invention is to provide a simplev and Vcompact mechanismby which these geny eral'movements may be accomplished.

I accomplish this object by the mechanism Aillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichn Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view `of my complete device.

Figure 2 is a sideelevation partly in section showing the parts illustrated in Figure 1 with the hood removed. This view is taken looking towards the left in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan section on the line 3 3 Figure 1. y f

Figures 4 to 8` inclusive show successive movements of the catch and cooperating parts of the lamp socket.

Figure 9 is a side elevation partly in section showing a portion of the lamp socket and the cooperating portion at the base of the supporting member.

Like numerals denote like. parts the several views.

In the form chosen to illustrate the inventionthe device has a lamp socket 1 of porcelain or other insulating material, the centerwbeing chambered and provided with a `metallic threaded shell 2 for receiving the th ruout .the socket.

provided with' two terminals fand 6 "in the r.base ofy an electric lamp 4f Thersocket'is i l Ordinary manner for engagement with cor-g.

jecting from the side ofthe stem, neai` the upper portion, is a' pin 14 which is. adapted to cooperate with acatch 16 for supporting Said catch is suspended vby a screw pin 18 from a tube 20 which is iney tegral with or rigidlyy fastened to adisc22 near the top of the device.vk Among other things,the disc forms a support for ahousing 23 in which the operating parts are en-` closed. The disc is centrally apertured and screws onto the lower-end of a pipe orconduit 2G14 by which the entire apparatus is-supporte. y l l' Stem 12 and the parts carried thereby are raised and loweredby means of a chainor cord 126 which passes over a pulley 28? mountedjon tube 2O somewhatbelow disc`22 as best shown in Figures r1 and .3. |The stem` is guidedr in the upper portions of its travel by tube 2O which has a vertical slot 30 in the side in which the pin travels. In orderto enable the pin always to find the slot when the stem rises from beneath, the lower end of the. tube is cut obliquely thus forming a cam surface 32 which tends to steer the pin toward the lower end of the slot.

The catch 16' above mentioned is free to swing upon pin 18 `although itfis constantly urged toward normal position by a spring- 34 which at its upper end is rigidly fastened to tube 20 by a post 36er other'suitable form of fastening means. Thisspring is inl the form of a light, resilient rod-andV at its lower end has a bend 38, the point 0f which` is inserted into the lower end ofthe catch, as best shown in Figure 1. The catchginthe. form illustrated is what may be regardedfas a. compound shrouded cam having bottom. cam 40 at its lower end adapted to be engaged by pin 14 as the latter rises. l Above cam40 within the camway 42y is a depression 43 which forms a seat for pin 14. The'construction is such that after the pin 14 vhas entered slot 3() and continues to'rise, it will firstk engage cam 40 and force the catch to?v Y position, after which if the operator slightly lowers the stein l2, the pin will rest in seat 43. The operator is prevented from raising the pin too far by a stop 46 located above the upper end .of Ithe cam. The action is illustrated in Figure 5.

Farther up in the carnway there is formed a cam 48 best shown in Figures 5 to 8. lt iss@ formed that if the operator again pulls the cord after the pin has become seated iny seat 43,"the pin will engage cani 48 and swing` the catch toward the right. After the rising pin passes the upper end of cani 48, spring,` 34 returns the catch to normal position rshown in Figure 7. After this if the operator pays out on the cord and permits the pin 14 to descend, it will engage the cani surface 50 and throw the catch toward the vleft as illustrated in Figure 8. This portion cf the camway is open at the bottom and 'hence there is nothingto prevent the pin from being lowered as far as the operator wishes.l yln other words, the stem and the lamp socket are now released and the lamp may be' lowered to a point where the operator can reach it for cleaning or renewal.

From the foregoing it will he clear thatthe catchis completely automatic in its operation. i the'lainp from the hanger all he has to do is to pullv on the cord 26 and-raise the pin 14 as far as it will go. He then slacks oil on the cord whereupon the catch will automatically take hold. Then if he wishes to release, he pulls down on the cord so that the pin will move upward a slight distance, causing it to rise above the upper end of the cam 48, after which the pin may be lowered out of the camway and out of the slot 80. lt will be evident that the various cams are prevented from forcing the pin 14 laterally lfor the reason ythat the pin is guided by the walls of the slot 80. rllhus it may be said that the guide slot 8O holds the pin to its work when actingv upon the cam. lt will valso be noted that the catch is small invsize and that its cams are thoroughly protected from the weather both on account ofl aline which passes up through the catch when the latter is in neutral position and which 1s coincident 'with the' line traveled by lf the operator wants to suspendr yfrom its seat 48 inv the catch. These means comprise helical compression.springs 52 best shown in Figures l and 2. Theyencircle rods which are threaded at their upper endfto screw tightly into the disc 22. At the upper end the springs abut adjustable collars 56 and at the lower end restl upon the top of the base l0 so as to urge it downward and thereby holdv the pin 14 seated in the .seat 43. The rods are slidable in base l0 so as to permit the base and the stem torise suiiiciently to affect the releasing action of .the pin from the catch. The downward movenient of the base l0 from disc 22 is limited by the heads 58 formed at the lower end of the rods as best shown in Figure 2. n

lt will be unnecessary to describe the elec'-y tric connections in detail, as devices of this general character are known. It is suflicient for the present purpose to say that the contacts 7 and 8 are lenergized through rods 60 which are conne'ctedby flexible connectors 62 and terminal blocks 64 to the supply conductor 66.

The operation'has already been described and it is evident lthat the lamp automatif cally put into circuit'by simply raising it as far as it vwill go in the first instance. Vhen it is desired to disconnect and lower the lampl all that lis necessary is to exert a. slight pull on the operating cord or chain 26, thus enabling-the lamp socket to release itself from the catch and enabling it .toghe thereafter lowered'as far as desired.

Having thus ydescribed my invention, what l claim as new Iand desire to secure by Letters Patent is: l

l. A lamp hanger *having a supporting member, a pendant catch pivotallyl supported therefrom and adapted to swing in two opposite directions from a neutral position, a springl adapted to restore the catchA to neu-y tral posit-ion, and a lamp socket hav-ing' means whereby it may be raised and lowered and havingl a stem with a laterallyprojecting pin, the catch hai/'ing three cams cressing its neutral aXis in alternate directions, the catch having a seat for the pin above the first, lowerinost, cam and fa stopfor the pin located aside from theneutral axis inthe direction of the trend ofthe first camto prevent the continued rise of the without lirst loweringlit, the third, uppermost, cam being; open at the bottom to releasethe pin.

2. A lamp hanger having va supporting member providedL with a. tube lliillgedverf tically and saving a slot inthe Side, a lamp socket adapted to be raised and lowered relatively to the supporting member and having a stein adapted to enter said tube, a

pin projecting from the side ofthe stem and adapted to travel in 'said `slot, and a catch pivotally mounted on the tube outside of the slot and having a cam at the bottom, and a seat above said cam, and a stop above said cam and seat the catch also having a.

releasing cam nearthe upper end of the camWay, the camvvay having a cam-like side adapted to swing the catch aside as the pin rises to thereby bring the releasing'y camV beneath the pin prior to the descent ofthe latter. f Y

scribed my name. e

ERNEST MILTON LARKINS.

- i 1.5 In Witness whereof, I have hereunto' subi 

